Process and apparatus for stuffing upholstery



June 10 1924. 1 1,497,183

. A. s. MITCHELL PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR STUFFTNG UPHOLSTERY Filed Dec. 29, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 444/5 75/? 5. MTCY/EZL ATTORNEY A. S. MITCHELL PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR STUFFTNG UPHOLSTERY June 10 1924.- 7 1,497,183

Filed Dec. 29, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J 3 U g 3 j 3 A J fi F m 9.

Fig 6 I I1. I

I II I INVENTOR 1414/5725? 5 MIC/7544 ATTORNEY Patented June 10, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

ALLISTER S. MITCHELL, F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO CALIFORNIA GOT- TON MILLS COMPANY, OF OAKLAND,

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR STUFFING UPHOLSTERY.

CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

Application filed December 29, 1922. Serial No. 609,608.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ALLisTEn S. MITCHELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes and Apparatus for Stufiing' Upholstery, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and improved process and apparatus for inserting the padding or filling in the covering or piping in forming upholstery and the like. The invention has various applications and uses. One of the objects of the invention is the filling of the cushions for automobiles. These automobile cushions are made up of pleats or pipes which are made by fastening two strips of material together at intervals. These pipes or pleats are of various lengths and with my invention they can be easily and quickly filled with the padding regardless of the variations in length and the time required for this urpose may be very greatly reduced andtlie cost thereof greatly reduced and a better product secured. The invention has other objects which are more particularly pointed out in the following description.

Referring now Fig. 1 is a side view ding instrument used process.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the instrument shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the enlarged end of the instrument shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the padding or filling in the instrument.

' F1 5 is a view showing the instrument and like padding inserted in one of the pleats in the covering. 7

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the instrument withdrawn leaving the paddlgg in the pleat. $5 1g. '1' is a view showing the filling folded back and forth upon itselfin a box or container in connection with the method in which the operator uses the instrument and the filling for padding.

Fig. 8 is a view showing the filling folded back and forth upon itself to form a compact mass.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several figures. at For purposes of illustration I have shown to the drawings:

of one form of padin carrying out the out of the pleat a portion of the the invention as used in connection with the filling of upholstery for automobiles, but it 15 of course evident that it may be used for any other purpose for which'it is adapted.

In carrying out the invention I provide a tube or instrument 1 which is preferabl of metal which is hollow and which has pre erably an opeuingwith the cross section a p'roitimating that that the'padding is final y to take. This tube 1 is preferably provided with the enlarged receiving opening 2 at the receiving end so as to facilitate the insertion of the padding therein. At the other end the tube is provided with the notches 3 which are arranged on opposite sides and which register so that the thumb and finger or any other suitable instrumentality may be placed therein to grasp the padding. I also prefer to make the edges 4 at the end of the tube sharp so that they can be used to easily se arate the padding as hereinafter describe In carrying out the invention a long strip of padding 5 of whatever nature such as cotton batting of any desired form is inserted in the tube as shown in Fig. 4 until a portion comes opposite the notches 3 at the end thereof- The tube is then inserted in one of the pleats 6 as shown in Fig. 5 and ushed through the proper distance. The ing is then held by any desired instrument or by the thumb and finger of the o erator, the operator placing his thumb and ger in the notches 3, and the tube is then moved backward out of the pleat to the position shown in Fig. 6, leaving the filling in the pleat. The holder is then moved laterally so as to disconnect the portion of the filling in the pleat from the portion of the fillin in the tube. When the tube is moved backwardly filling at the rear of the tube is pulled into the tube, and it' will thus be seen'that with this process-the tube is,

as it were, self-filling or selfthreading. The tube is then inserted in another pleat and the above described process we continued until all the pleats are filled. It will thus be seen that a strip of filling of any desired length can be used and that pleats of different lengths can be easily and quickly filled and that it is unnecessary to make the filling of any particular lengths in order to fill these. various pleats of varying lengths. This invention therefore saves time in making it unnecessary for the operator to sort out fillings of particular lengths for particue are p rate ofspeed and the cost of making filer pleats, it onl ilfli g strips of filing material and a beingnecessary to make art *thereof can then be inserted in the p eats and the rest disconnected from the portion in the pleats. This can be done at all; high t eupholstery thus will be very greatly reduced.

In some of the the one end is closed and the other open. With such pleats or even with the pleats open at both ends it is only necessary to insert the tube with the filling therein in the pleat and then, by meansof the thumb and finger or a suitable instrument,'exert pres-' sure on the pleat opposite the notches 3 as shown in Fig. 6 so as to hold the filling, whereupon thetube may then be withdrawn tothe position shown in said figure. As before stated, the filling may be made up in strips of any desired length but ll prefer to make it in. long lengths. This filling can then as manufactured or at any other time be placed in a receptacle in layers extending back and forth across the receptacle, as shown for example in Fig. 7, and

when it is desired to fill the upholstery it is only necessary to insert the end of the filling strip in the tube and then fill the various pleats, the tube being pulled back each time along thestrip so as to be selffilling and this process continued until the entire strip is usedup. ll have found a convenient length of strip of the filling to be about five hundred yards as this 'facilitates handling and prevents waste, the filling being pulled out of the receptacle, a small portion of it at a time, as the tube is refilled and inserted in the next pleat. lit is therefore not necessary for the hand of the operator to touch the filling except the end of the strip he first inserts in the tube. Ttwill further be seen that there is practically no waste with this process and apparatus. I prefer to make the edges 4. more or less pointed and sharp so as to make it easier to disconnect the portion of the filling in the pleat from that in the tube by the lateral movement before described.

The instrument or tube 1 is preferably of sufiicient length so that it can be used with pleats of the longest length as it is not at all necessary that this tube be the same length as the that it be of suiiicient length to be easily inserted therein and removed therefrom. Ordinarily it will be made longer than the pleats. The size of the tube may of course be varied, but it is preferably of such size as to easily fit into the pleat and to substantially fill the pleat and to be easily withdrawn. The filling is preferably compressed more or less in the holder and then expands so as, to entirely fill the pleat when the tube is withdraw ,l have described detail a particular pleats of the upholstery, I

pleat in the covering but onlymonies process and construction embodying the invention but it is of course evident that numerous variations may be utilized without departing from the spirit of the invention as embodied in the claims'hereto appended and ll therefore do not limit myself to and described.

It will be 'noted that the filling is entirely covered by the tube and that the tube has s nootlrbore; This gives a smooth finish to the outer faces of the filling and prevents it from becoming rufiled or otherwise distorted I prefer; to arrange the tube 1 so that the outer end can be hung up to facilitate the operation; In the construction shown there is a ring 7 attached to the tube and a flexible suspending de- Vice 8 is attached to a support 9. By means of this constructionthe tube, when being used, can be suspended in the proper position so that when the operator releases it it will be held so that he can again easily take hold of it; This permits him to use both hands for other purposes when this is desired without the to the. fioor.

I claim:

1. The process of forming pleatedupholstery which consists in inserting a tube into one of the pleats, which tube contains the filling and withdrawing the entire tube as a unit.

2. The process of forming pleated upholstery which consists in inserting a tube con taining the filling into one of the pleats and then holding the filling material in the pleat and simultaneously withdrawing the entire tube.

3. The process of forming pleated upholstery which consists in inserting a tube containing the filling into one of the pleats and then holding the filling material inthe pleat and simultaneously withdrawing the entire tube dropping tube and then disconnecting the portion of the filling in the pleat from the portion the filling remaining in the tube by giving the tube a quick lateral movement.

a. An apparatus for filling upholstery which cross section substantially the size of the pleats in the covering, said tube adapted to receive a strip of filling material and to be inserted in the pleat of the upholstery covering and provided at p portions whereby the strip'of filling mate rial may be grasped with the fingers as the tube is being withdrawn from the pleat.

5. An apparatus for filling upholstery which consists of a hollow tube he cross section substantially the size of the pleats in the covering, said tube adapted to receive a strip of the filling material and to be inserted in the pleat upholstery covering and provided at its and the particular construction shownconsists of a hollow tube having a .1;

its end with cutaway ring c MID Tilt

away portions whereby the strip of filling material may be grasped with the fingers as the tube is beingwithdrawn from the pleat, said tube being provided at its end with means for disconnecting the portion of the filling in the pleat from the portion of the filling in the tube.

6. An apparatus for filling upholstery which consists of a hollow tube having a cross section substantially the size of the pleats in the covering, said tube being adaptedto receive a strip of the filling material and-to be inserted in the pleat of the upholstery covering and provided at'its end with cut away portions whereby the strip of filling material may begras ed-with the fingers as the tube is being withdrawn from the pleat, said tube being provided at its end with a cutting edge for severing the portion of the filling in the pleat from the portion of the filling in the tube. v

7. The process of forming upholstery which consists in forming the covering into pleats," forming the filling into long strips, inserting the end of the strip of filling material into a tube, inserting the tube into one of the pleats, holdingthe filling against removal, withdrawing the tube so as to discharge a portion of the filling into the pleat and refill the tube, and then disconnecting the portion of the filling in the tube from that in the pleat by a quick lateral movement of said tube.-

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, this 26th day of December, 1922.

ALLISTER S. MITCHELL. 

